Effort to stem hepatitis A outbreak faces headwinds

Michigan has 14 times more hepatitis A cases than it did last year at this time, say epidemiologists with the state Department of Health and Human Services.

The outbreak, which is mainly in southeast Michigan, has sickened 457 people. Of those, 370 have been hospitalized and 18 have died.

The outbreak is complicated. There's no single source such as food contamination - and many groups of people are at risk, including homeless people, drug users, people who are neither, and now there are more cases among men who have sex with men.

Until October, only 10 men who have sex with men had contracted hep A. Then, in October, there was a sudden spike of 11 additional cases.

The state is urging doctors and hospitals to vaccinate at-risk patients, but officials say resistance is too frequently a problem.

Some hep A patients have left the hospital while still infectious. Some people living with a hep A patient have refused the vaccine and then gotten sick themselves, and some hep A patients have refused to disclose the names of family and close friends, which means health officials can't contact these individuals to inform them they should get the vaccine or early treatment.

The outbreak is still considered a regional epidemic, rather than statewide, although a small number of cases have occurred in Sanilac, Ingham, and Lapeer counties.

Officials are still trying to determine if the virus causing the outbreak is more aggressive than usual. Hep A is very easily spread via lax hygiene and close proximity.

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Since an outbreak began last August, 376 people in Michigan have contracted the sometimes fatal illness. It's mainly spread person-to-person via contact with feces.

Angela Minicuci is with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

"We haven't found one contaminated food source or exposure at this point," she says, "but we are seeing a lot of relation to people who are using opioids or drugs."

People who are, or have been incarcerated, are also considered at higher risk of getting hepatitis A, as are homeless people. A staggering 86% of those who've gotten hepatitis A in the state since last year have been hospitalized. Fourteen people have died.

Michigan officials are warning health care providers about an outbreak of hepatitis A in the city of Detroit and nearby Macomb, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne counties.

According to Michigan's Medicaid Director Chris Priest, hepatitis A is a highly contagious liver infection that is primarily spread between people through food, water, or oral contact with objects, including hands and eating utensils, contaminated by the feces of a hepatitis A-infected individual.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services says there's been 200 confirmed cases of hepatitis A in Southeast Michigan since last August, resulting in ten deaths. The virus has been reported in Oakland, Wayne, and St. Clair counties.

Authorities are taking steps to limit hepatitis A exposure at the Oakland County Jail in suburban Detroit after an inmate was confirmed to be infected.

The Oakland County Health Division and the sheriff's office announced Friday that they're advising those detained at the jail in Pontiac between May 8 and May 23 to contact the Health Division to determine potential exposure. A male inmate was confirmed to have hepatitis A.

Health officials are concerned about a growing outbreak of Hepatitis-A in southeast Michigan.

Hepatitis A is a viral disease that attacks the liver. It’s not usually fatal. But two of the 107 patients recorded in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties since last August have died.

“We do think that there are various pockets of this Hepatitis A,” says Dr. Eden Wells, the chief medical executive with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, “We’re not sure what’s driving it, but it is contagious.”